Mocha buttercream cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 6 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100 g sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 150 g sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla sugar
• 150 ml milk, warmed
• 150 g butter, room temperature
• 2 tbsp Marsala or coffee liqueur
• 350 g flour
• 3 tsp baking powder (cream of tartar)
• 250 ml espresso, strong
• 125 ml milk
• 6 tsp, heaped pudding powder, vanilla flavor
• 3 egg yolks
• 170 g sugar (more or less to taste)
• 2 tbsp Marsala or coffee liqueur
• 600 g butter, cold, solid (!)
• 100 g dark chocolate shavings
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• Confectionery, (mocha beans)
• Marsala or coffee liqueur to drizzle over the bases

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

mighty tasty

Line the bottom of a large springform pan with parchment paper. This works best if you place a sufficiently large piece of parchment paper on the bottom and clamp it with the side of the springform pan. This stretches the paper and prevents it from slipping when you pour in the batter. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (please consider the “peculiarities” of your oven!). For the batter: Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form, slowly add the sugar (100 g) and continue beating until stiff peaks form and glossy. Beat the egg yolks with 150 g sugar and vanilla sugar until creamy. Melt the butter slightly in the warm milk (it doesn’t have to dissolve completely) and stir it into the egg-sugar mixture. (Don’t be alarmed—the mixture will become relatively runny again.) Combine the flour and baking powder and quickly stir into the mixture. Carefully fold in the meringue mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan, smooth it out, and bake for about 45 minutes (use a toothpick to test the surface!). After baking, let the cake cool briefly in the pan, loosen it from the sides with a knife, and then turn it out onto a baking rack lined with parchment paper. This should allow any remaining “baked mound” to flatten. Once completely cooled, carefully remove the paper from the cake. Cut the cake base horizontally twice to create three layers. For the buttercream: Whisk together the espresso, milk, custard powder, and egg yolk until lump-free and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. This goes relatively quickly, so don’t forget to stir! You’ll have a fairly firm pudding mixture. Remove the pan from the heat, then stir in the sugar and Marsala/coffee liqueur. Pour the hot pudding mixture into a food processor and, while the machine is running, stir in the very cold, cut-in butter. Don’t worry if the cream seems a bit soft at first. Once all the butter has been incorporated, you’ll end up with a fluffy, smooth, and veeeeery delicious mixture! Taste to see if the cream is sweet enough – if necessary, add a little more sugar dissolved in Marsala. The mixture should now have the right consistency for filling the cake – but if necessary, you can refrigerate it to allow it to “set” a bit. Finishing the cake: Place two overlapping pieces of baking paper on a cake plate. Place one of the cake layers on top (we recommend using the actual cake lid as the bottom layer. Place this with the baking side down to create a flat “work surface” for filling). Place the cleaned springform pan or a baking frame around the base. Drizzle the base with a little Marsala/coffee liqueur. Spread a layer of buttercream and smooth it down (this works best with a cake lifter). Place the next layer (the middle one) on top, drizzle with more icing, and spread more icing on top. Spread a thin layer of icing on the last layer (this is the actual cake layer, which you place with the baked side up to create a nice, even surface) and smooth it out as evenly as possible. Carefully loosen the baking frame and cover the edge of the cake with icing. Then, using a pastry scraper or a wide knife, decorate it with grated chocolate. Chill the cake. Dust the surface with cocoa powder and decorate with the remaining buttercream and mocha beans as desired. Pull the baking paper out from under the cake to the side (if necessary, lift the cake slightly with a wide spatula or spatula). Tips: The stronger the espresso, the more intense the mocha flavor of the buttercream! By Marsala, I mean the unsweetened cooking version. I calculated the amount of buttercream quite generously, so you don’t have to skimp on filling and decorating the cake. The cake can easily be made a day or even two in advance. This helps distribute the flavors. Since the cake is quite rich, I recommend cutting it into 16 slices. My very special thanks go to my dear fellow baking addicts Christine_R and Lubu, whose recipes I used to create this mocha cake and who kindly granted me permission to publish it. You can find the original recipe here: http://www.chefkoch.de/rezept-anzeige.php?ID=1115361217592486. The instructions for the foolproof buttercream can be found here: http://www.chefkoch.de/forum/2,35,372481/Buttercreme-ENDLICH-ein-Rezept-das-gelingt.html